From Opus

Alternative Name: Pied Shag

Photo by Layzeboy
Canterbury Coast New Zealand

Phalacrocorax varius

[edit] Identification

81 cm., 2 kg
Black above, face from above eye and all underparts white except for black thighs, long grey hooked bill, eye-ring blue, feet black.

[edit] Distribution

Australasia: found in
Papua New Guinea, Australia: New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, New Zealand, Melanesia.

The pied shag is a protected species and the species is increasing dramatically in numbers in New Zealand's coastal waters.

Photo by jimmclean
Centennial Park, Sydney, Australia, February 2005

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

• P. v. hypoleucos:

• Coastal and interior Australia; rare vagrant to Tasmania

• P. v. varius:

• Coastal New Zealand and Stewart Island

[edit] Habitat

Marine and inland waters, including billabongs, deep and open swamps, and rivers.
P.v.varius breeds throughout New Zealand with colonies in macrocarpa and pohutakawa trees being a distinctive feature of Northern New Zealand’s coastal environment. Despite being almost an entirely coastal feeding species, pied shags nest inland at Kaikoura at Lake Rotorua.

[edit] Behaviour

Pied shags, P.v.varius, are a coastal species and rarely venture more than a kilometre or so offshore. They are a social species and groups of birds can be seen resting on beaches, although they are generally a solitary species when feeding.

[edit] Diet

Feeds on coastal fish such as mullet and flounders and also paddle crabs. Pied shags dive below the surface to feed, diving down to depths of 20metres.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. Avibase
3. BF Member observations

• List of references

[edit] External Links